Annual Conference of the PEWS Section of the American Sociological Association
This is the 29th annual gathering of the Political Economy of the World System (PEWS) Section of the American Sociological Association: World-Systemic Crisis and Contending Political Scenarios.
Speakers and panels will address the changing political dynamics of a current global order in the throes of crisis. Though this crisis has produced widespread violence, imperial wars, and volatile economies, it may also create opportunities for new forms of collective agency toward social change. Participants in the PEWS conference will address topics such as: the crisis of U.S. hegemony; the politics of global institutions; the proliferation of religious, racial and ethnic strife; and the emergence of movements for systemic social transformation.
The opening plenary on Thursday, April 14 at 8:00 pm (101 Campus Center) will be given by founder of the school of world systems analysis, Immanuel Wallerstein, now of the Sociology Department of Yale University and Director of the Fernand Braudel Center at SUNY-Binghamton. Other plenary speakers include: Saskia Sassen, Enrique Dussel Ambrosini, and Anibal Quijano.
On Saturday, April 16 at 8:00 pm (101 Campus Center), a tribute to the late Gloria Anzaldua, well-known Chicana feminist and author of La Frontera/The Borderlands, with performances by members of the New World Theater and Project 2050.
Except for the events mentioned above, all presentations will take place in 302 Gordon Hall. The conference is organized by the Sociology Department at UMass. It is co-sponsored by the Center for Public Policy and Administration-UMass, Five Colleges, Inc., the Global Migrations Program-Hampshire College, Modern European Studies-UMass, the Political Economy Research Institute (PERI), and the Social and Demographic Research Institute (SADRI).
Additional contributors include Black Student Union-UMass, Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies-UMass, Economics Department-UMass, English Department-UMass, Global Studies-Mt. Holyoke College, Office of ALANA Affairs-UMass, Social Thought and Political Economy (STPEC)-UMass, Spanish and Portuguese Department-UMass, Weissman Center-Mt. Holyoke College, Women's Studies Department-Smith College, and Women's Studies Department-UMass.